Japanese Developers "Lacking the Motivation"

Recently, Hideo Kojima and Square Enix president Yoichi Wada criticized the prowess of their home country of Japan. Has the West finally won?

It's been no secret that by-and-large, Japanese game developers have fallen behind their Western counterparts – Square Enix's own Yoichi Wada even delivered a speech on this topic at Tokyo Game Show in 2008. In an interview with Gamasutra, he once again laments the position Japan is in. Talking specifically about gameplay (including a game's choice of genre) he says, "Western developers have become much stronger during the past five years, in this respect – the game element. He says it's "the area the Japanese creators are struggling with right now, trying to explore in new ways."

Meanwhile, in one in a series of Twitter posts, Kojima just doesn't think the country is as hungry as it once was – whether in video games or in other fields. "The West is very motivated. The younger generation of Japan is losing. The designers and to-be-designers in the West have the focus, ambition, and ability to make their dream become true. It is not the Japanese technology or culture that is losing; we are lacking the motivation."